HANOVER – On Monday at 7:30 p.m., the Hanover town board will hold its regularly scheduled meeting, which will be preceded by a workshop at 6:30 p.m. According to Town Supervisor Todd Johnson, the Ball Hill wind park vote is on the agenda at what is likely to be a very well-attended meeting, if the recent town of Villenova board meeting is any indication.

Because the Chautauqua County Planning Board voted to disapprove the proposed amendments, Hanover, like Villenova, is in the position of needing a supermajority approval (four out of five members voting yes) to pass the proposed amendments. The proposed amendments include wind turbine heights at a maximum of 599 feet, increased setbacks to roadways, the conversion of portions of overhead lines to underground lines and the removal of a substation.

As was stated by attorney Dan Spitzer at the June 25 Hanover town board meeting when the proposed amendments were first introduced, Villenova is the lead agency for the project; however, their town board cannot make decisions for the town of Hanover.

Although Monday’s meeting is open to the public, Johnson said that it would not be open to public comment. “We already had a public hearing about the project last month,” explained Johnson, “so we won’t be opening it up for public discussion.”

If Hanover does not approve the proposed amendments, Johnson explained that the wind project will go back to its original scope.

According to the 2016 environmental notice bulletin posted on www.ballhillwind.com, the original scope includes a total of 29 turbines (23 in Villenova and six in Hanover) at a height of 492 feet (maximum of 500 feet) and the construction and operation of approximately 13 miles of gravel access roads, approximately 19.8 miles of underground (buried) electrical collection lines and/or communication cables, an operations and maintenance facility, an overhead transmission line up to 5.7 miles long and a southern substation.

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